Greater Derry Track Club - Turkey Trot

THE HISTORY

The Turkey Trot was an idea of the Town of Derry Parks and Recreation Department's Director Gerry Cox and began back on Thanksgiving morning in 1974. Not much is known of the early days and the attendance but it was believed the the demographics of the initial participants were more the hearty bunch of runner types.

It was taken over by the Greater Derry Track Club (GDTC) a few years later and for years it struggled with low numbers but due to the dedication of many members of the GDTC it survived. In an effort to boost the attendance, one year it was decided to move the event from Thanksgiving morning to the Saturday before Thanksgiving. This turned out to be a total flop and the race was quickly moved back to Thanksgiving morning.

As with any race, the initial Turkey Trots held at Galliens town beach on Beaver Lake had very few amenities compared to today's standard races. Timing was manual, inaccurate and slow.

The race took a big jump in attendance when the Allen Motors, a car dealer from Derry, donated money each year for Tee Shirts for the event. Allen Motors remained a long time sponsor during the lean years and probably one reason the race survived.

For many years, the race had a unique in that the award winners of each age group received a frozen turkey as a prize. Which director started this is unknown but it was a hit and a novelty that draws attendance. It was discontinued recently due to the logistics of storing such a large number of frozen turkeys. There has been several requests made to bring it back.

When the new facility at Galliens beach opened up that race numbers grew again, because this made the registration and post race activities much more enjoyable.


One of the reasons that the race has continued to grow in numbers is because of the growth of the Feaster Five race held in Andover, MA on Thanksgiving morning. The size of that race today has sent people looking for smaller races and our turkey trot race fits the bill. Another reason of the popularity of having a turkey trot. Until recently there were only a handful races on Thanksgiving morning within a 50 mile radius and now they are popping up everywhere.

It was only a few years ago there were only two races in New Hampshire, one race in Concord and the Derry Turkey Trot.

The Derry Parks and Recreation department and the town of Derry continues to be a co-sponsors of the event and the relationship will contribute the preserving the Turkey Trot for many many more years in the future.